Narrative perspective in “A Castaway” and “Jenny” elicit a kind of sympathy and pathos through monologues in which the characters ultimately, resignedly give in to prevailing social mores.  The poems skillfully portray the story of socially condemned figures of fallen woman within the broad context of customs inherent in patriarchal Victorian Britain, manifesting overall hypocrisy, powerless position of woman and utter poverty driving woman to prostitution. Both poems inevitably consign the prostitutes to an objectified status that precludes the possibility that they, and others, might see them as individuals.

The female subjects of both poems are “fallen woman.” In “A Castaway,” the woman who sells her body engages in a dramatic monologue dwelling on the tragic events of her life.  Her name, Eulalie, is itself symbolic of her profession.  A flowery, sensual name, we wonder if this is in fact a professional alias, one that obscures her true identity but objectifies her and all such women.  Thus named, she is classified, bereft of her individuality by the expectations her name imparts to society.

The speaker in “Jenny” is a man reflecting on the life of the prostitute sleeping nearby. The readers learn about her life from the speaker’s point of view; his monologue is our only window on her character.  He does not muse on particular events but gives us a sympathetic, yet subjective view that indulges in much the same kind of objectification as in “A Castaway.”  The woman’s name establishes pathos, evoking sympathy throughout the poem as he refers to the woman as “poor Jenny” throughout the poem. Asleep, she appears defenseless and weak, unable to object, correct or contribute to his story. Sympathy is conveyed in “A Castaway” through references to those “poor things,” who follow the “silly rules” of a “silly world” (369, 376).

In “A Castaway,” the woman resignedly takes upon herself the mantle of prostitute.  She “should not dare to take the name of wife on … polluted lips” (395-396). Self-reproach lurks through the image of “good grave simple mother” (314); the epithets “good”, “simple” return the reader to the opening lines and, thus, to the heroine’s pure childhood. In the first lines of the intimate confession in “A Castaway,” the speaker reads the diary she kept in childhood. The simple thoughts of it evoke the image of an innocent girl, a “budding colorless young rose of home” (8).  She compares herself with that young girl doing her daily cares, with destitute women in rags selling themselves, and with wives (“the well-fed helpless barn-door fowl” (139) condemning “larcenous wild-birds” (130).  Thus, she ponders the path that carried her from innocence to dissolution and corruption.

The woman weighs her indecent occupation against other “honorable” trades involving lies, vices, hypocrisy and follies, through the story of her miserable existence.  By comparing herself to these members of society, she is rationalizing her situation, convincing herself that, as a prostitute, she is not alone in terms of corruption.  Yet she cannot escape the truth of the matter, that she is engaged in debauched activity and, as with other occupations, can never expect widespread acceptance. Irony prevails in many lines of her dramatic justification.  Irony and sarcasm seem the only way she can bear the situation and not lose heart and hope. However, irony cannot conceal the pain that is always close at hand.

The poems tell about the indecent, condemned occupation that makes them socially unacceptable figures.  Jenny is characterized as shameful; “Lest shame of yours suffice for two” (92); the heroine of “A Castaway” classifies herself “A wanton I but modest!”(46). In her words intimate thoughts merge with bitter irony: “my present lover, or my next to come, / value me at my worth, fill your purse full, / for I am modest” (52-54).  She knows that any positive qualities, such as modesty, will not be recognized, can never be seriously considered, because she is a prostitute, a social outcast whom society sees as one-dimensional.

In “A Castaway” and “Jenny” the concept of social condemnation is expressed via the plot, and through condemnatory verbiage (fie, mock, jeer, and jar). The woman-castaway is grateful to God that her mother did not live to see her become a fallen woman. This view reflects the social proscription of her trade, an attitude which is common in most societies. The opening lines of “Jenny” acutely illustrate this attitude:  “Vengeance of Jenny’s case! Fie on her! Never name her, child!”; this speaks to the title, “A Castaway,” which describes the unenviable social position within which she is confined.

“A Castaway” also reveals this problem from the standpoint of painful personal experience, in which she has had to endure the bad opinion of her family: her brother ceased his brotherhood.  However, the narrator’s ironic appeal to fairy-tale imagery, in which a pumpkin is transformed into a chariot, reflects her bitterness and frustration at the limitations of her position.  She sardonically accepts that her trade owns many dainty names, with one crude word being dominant.  Still, the heroine refuses to apply any of the “politically correct” names.  She insists on applying euphemisms, like “fallen woman” or the “lowest woman,” even “drab.”

Besides the depiction of a fallen woman’s fate, the poems provide insight into social, cultural, and historical issues of the period. One of the most obvious problems they address is the role of women in Victorian society.  The position occupied by women in the patriarchal Victorian society is depicted vividly by both poets. The speaker of “A Castaway” identifies the role of women in society through the allegorical image of “sheep” ready to “stand in rows/ and baa them hymns and moral songs” (283-284). She calls herself a “thing,” thus emphasizing powerlessness and the need to be obedient to the man.  The poem “Jenny” reveals the same attitude to the woman, with emphasis placed on the woman as an object of man’s lust – the man is in charge and may treat her like an inanimate object.